President Trump just slapped 30% tariffs on goods coming from the European Union, escalating a long-simmering conflict over who gets to write the rules for Big Tech. The move came just after Brussels moved forward with more regulations, this time targeting the booming field of artificial intelligence.
The latest flashpoint is the EU’s new “Code of Practice” for AI, a set of voluntary guidelines released Thursday aimed at addressing public safety concerns. While not legally binding, the code builds on the EU’s landmark AI Act, and companies that don’t sign on by the August 2 deadline risk intense regulatory scrutiny. OpenAI announced its intention to sign the code on Friday, while the tech lobby group CCIA, whose members include Google and Meta, has criticized the guidelines.
The Trump administration has been openly hostile to the EU’s attempts to regulate American tech companies. Trump has described the bloc’s hefty fines as “overseas extortion,” while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has claimed they function as backdoor tariffs.
This view has been amplified by Silicon Valley. In a January announcement, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company was “going to work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies,” specifically calling out European regulators. These tensions have crippled trade negotiations; in May, Trump administration officials told the New York Post that talks had stalled over the EU’s refusal to abandon its multi-million dollar fines against U.S. tech giants.
What Fines Has the EU Imposed?
Under the 2022 Digital Markets Act (DMA), a landmark European antitrust law, Apple, Google, Amazon, and Meta were all deemed “gatekeepers.” This designation brought with it a wave of fines and forced changes to their EU operations. Most recently, Meta was hit with a more than $200 million fine after the European Commission found its “pay-or-consent” model breached the DMA. According to a Reuters report from Friday, Meta has decided to fight the findings and will not propose changes, meaning more fines are likely on the way.
Will the EU Cave or Double Down?
Despite Trump’s pressure, the EU seems intent on maintaining its regulatory independence. Earlier this month, the European Commission’s tech chief, Henna Virkkunen, told Politico that the bloc’s rules on digital competition and AI were not up for negotiation.
However, the EU has shown some willingness to compromise. The bloc recently dropped a proposed tax on digital companies from its upcoming budget, a move seen as a win for the Trump administration.
The question now is whether these new tariffs will backfire and provoke an even tougher crackdown. In response to the first round of tariffs in April, EU President Ursula von der Leyen was open about targeting Big Tech with countermeasures if talks failed. While the bloc delayed a set of retaliatory measures that were set to go into effect this past Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron has made it clear that the EU’s most feared weapon is still on the table: the anti-coercion instrument.
“With European unity, it is more than ever up to the Commission to assert the Union’s determination to resolutely defend European interests,” Macron wrote on X. “This implies speeding up the preparation of credible countermeasures, by mobilizing all the instruments at its disposal, including anti-coercion, if no agreement is reached by August 1st.”
Along with the President of the European Commission, France shares the same very strong disapproval at the announcement of horizontal 30% tariffs on EU exports to the United States from August 1st.
This announcement comes after weeks of intense engagement by the Commission in…
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 12, 2025
The Bigger Picture
The anti-coercion instrument is considered the “bazooka” in the EU’s arsenal. While traditional tariffs hit physical goods, this tool allows the EU to impose trade restrictions on services from a country it deems is using economic coercion. If the U.S. is found to fit the bill, American tech giants that provide digital services, like Apple, Google, and Meta, could be uniquely vulnerable.
Ultimately, both sides are fighting to protect their own interests: the Trump administration wants to defend American dominance in the global tech industry, while the EU wants to regulate digital platforms on its own terms. As negotiations continue, they will not only decide the fate of the tech companies caught in the middle but will also set the rules for global tech sovereignty for years to come.
But for Big Tech companies caught in the crossfire, the message is clear: this is a war over digital sovereignty, and the rules of the internet’s next era may be written in Brussels as much as in Washington.
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